Photo of the Day: How HIV Attacks

The first-ever high resolution image of the CCR5 receptor on the T cell, where the HIV virus attaches and uses the body’s own cells to attack the immune system. (Photo: Science.org)

On September 12, scientists from China and San Diego, CA published a paper in Science showing the first high-resolution atomic structure of the CCR5 receptor, where the majority of HIV strains attach to infect white blood cells known as T cells. The team worked for six years to get a high resolution, three-dimensional image of the CCR5 receptor. If researchers can alter the CCR5 receptors, they may be able to create cells that are immune to HIV.